“This incident is very unfortunate, and our thoughts and prayers are with those involved,” said UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols.

“We place the utmost value on the safety of our employees, our customers and the public. We will immediately engage with the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, and we will work exhaustively on response efforts,” continued Nichols.

The aircraft involved in the accident, registered under the number N155UP was MSN 841, delivered to UPS from the production line in 2003. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 11000 flight hours in some 6800 flights. It was powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. At this time no further factual information is available.

In line with the ICAO Annex 13 international convention, Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the French BEA as well as to the authorities who will be responsible for the accident investigation. A team of specialists from Airbus is being dispatched to Alabama.

The A300-600F is a freighter twin-engine widebody. The first A300-600F freighter entered service in 1983. By the end of June 2013, 104 A300-600F were in service.

Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed. However, the investigation remains the entire responsibility of the relevant authorities and it would be inappropriate for Airbus to enter into any form of speculation into the cause of the accident.

The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident of Flight 1354.

Update: 9:45 a.m.

Various outlets are reporting the mayor of Birmingham saying the crew has died, but this has not been confirmed.

The crash site is outside the fence-line of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport, in a hilly green area. That information comes from the scene, where a reporter for the website AL.com says large parts of the plane lay some 50 yards apart in the field. Multiple fire trucks were spraying the smoldering field this morning.

Toni Herrera-Bast, a spokeswoman for Birmingham’s airport authority, tells The Associated Press that there are no homes in the immediate area of the crash.

Local residents tell AL.com that they were told they do not need to evacuate the area — but that they also lost power, as it seems the plane may have clipped power lines on its way to the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it is sending a team to Alabama to help investigate the crash.